“There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:42 (NLT) The heart of this ministry is to inspire a love for God’s Word and encourage the discipline of daily Bible reading and SOAP journaling. These are a few of our SOAP notes from today’s reading. We encourage you to read and journal on your own first, then join us in conversation about what God revealed to YOU today. Click HERE to go directly to the daily reading if you wish.
Printable reading plan: Discover One Thing Reading Plan
Want to walk through the Bible one book at a time? Head over to Discover One Thing Online Study!
Upside down | guest post
S~ For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Matthew 23:12 (NIV)
O~ Jesus is warning the people about the religious teachers and the order of the Kingdom.
A~ I say that God’s Kingdom is upside down and doesn’t make sense. But what does that really mean? Our teaching pastor shared a great illustration that I’m going to copy forever about God’s Kingdom.
It’s as if the Huskers were headed to the national championship game after a season of hard work and grit. The Huskers were gaining more and more popularity as the season went on, and they have a very good chance of winning the national title.
Then, on game day, the coach tells everyone that the starters aren’t playing the game. What?!? No starters for the title game, the ultimate win? Just doesn’t make sense.
God’s Kingdom just doesn’t make sense either. And it can’t be explained. If I’m helping/serving someone because it’s the right thing to do, I will eventually burn out. And that would be from a heart of wanting to exalt myself.
If I’m helping/serving someone because I’ve got all this excess of Jesus’ love flowing through me and it needs to land somewhere, that’s the ‘doesn’t make sense’ Kingdom work.
P~ Abba, I want to humble myself for Your Kingdom! Let these words be true in my heart! Stretch my heart and soul and pour an abundance of Your grace in me. I love You!
Fighting Hypocrisy | Joni Tyner
S~ for you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. Matthew 23: 23 (NLT)
O~ Jesus is teaching to the crowd about hypocrisy in the church. (all of chapter 23 is in red)
(BTW–this is the definition of hypocrisy: a pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles, etc., that one does not really possess.)
A~ This is something that always bugs me—It’s not specific to tithing—but just the attitude needing to do a specific church activity yet seemingly be oblivious to an individual’s personal struggles and need for compassion. For example, it is common for churches to have weekly prayer services for people, (I think that is good) but I seriously wonder how many of those people praying actually follow up with people in need by making a personal contact and perhaps a tangible act of kindness?
I often listen to KLove radio and I love it for many reasons. I find their music uplifting as well as the conversations and the prayers that are shared during the day. I don’t know the specific number of listeners, but it is broadcast nationally. (probably internationally as well) It is a BIG ministry, for sure—yet they make a priority to care about individuals. I have actually received 2 different phone calls in the past couple of years from KLove staff that were just “checking in on me” and asking if I had any prayer requests. Can I just say WOW ? I guessing they got my phone number off of donation records and, although I didn’t specifically sign up for prayer, they wanted to connect with me. I think that is absolutely amazing that an organization of that size takes time to personally connect with listeners. They are living out Jesus’s command to love God and people.
P~ Dear Lord, I often pray that I have eyes and ears and a heart to see people as You see them. It is my heart’s desire to service You well. I don’t want to be doing lip service about my Christian faith and be missing the obvious that is right in front of me (or across the street or sitting at my work or _____ ) Please give me fresh insight to keep my faith super simple—Love God and Love People. The End.
Our team would love the privilege of praying for you! Please share how we can lift you in prayer at prayer@DiscoverOneThing.com
Discover One Thing 